The_Wondrous

Update: She lives again! One of the Classic Z guys came by with a spare distributor, we hooked it up and she started right up and drove just like it did years ago. Probably was the pickup coil but the distributor I had was on it's way out anyway so it's good it got replaced. Thank yall again for helping me decipher my car and engine and contacting Mr. Wolf to help me out. Might have been able to do it without, but yall saved me a lot of headache and frustration. Hopefully this thread might help someone else identify their problems. Take care yall and thanks again!

I've gotta wait till the 1st until I could buy it but ill post an update when i do. Thank yall again for the help!

It's taken me a while because I've got another motorcycle project with the exact same issue of no spark yet power to the coils and I'm trying to not lose my sanity lol. I'll do a few minutes to a hour of work or troubleshooting and then come back to it tomorrow. I'm not a huge car mechanic guy and I don't really enjoy the work so I only want to spend as much time as absolutely necessary, especially when my plans are to sell it shortly after I get it running again. I pulled the rotor off earlier and inspected the wires inside visually and they seemed okay. I discovered the guys before me did some "work" to the pickup coil wire, and by that i mean they cut both wires in half then did a bad solder job and wrapped em in tape. Why? No idea, but I re-did the solder and heat shrinked them separately and still was getting mega ohm readings. Autozone has a $30 pickup coil so I'll grab that and swap it out this weekend if they have it in stock. I downloaded and printed off the 1978 280Z from the FSM section here and based off that I believe I have a 1978 280Z - California model engine at least. That should help me and the next owner out in diagnosing and troubleshooting. I feel kinda like a heel for not taking care of my Z-Car as much as other guys on here but I bought it as my first car ever with dreams of restoring it or doing a skyline engine swap but then real life as a young man got in the way and it was just neglected. Now it just needs to run again and find a better home than what I'm giving it.

Got some pictures of the engine numbers and distributor cap. It looks like I have one pick up coil, a red and green wire and no black box do-hickey. I took the screws out in the picture but put them back in. I thought the assembly may pull out as a whole but it did not come easily so i didn't force it. I have not checked the vacuum system on it or really done anything except test resistance across the red and green wires. The manual I have for testing the pickup coil is from a 280zx, however they specify "approximately 400 ohms" and not anything in the mega ohms. If it's "anything substantially over or under, then check the pick up coil." Yet there's not a way specified to test it other than plug in another, at least not in the manuals I have right now Here's the bottom engine# and here's the top one. . You guys have been very helpful with this and thank you a lot!

I was told it was a 280ZX engine, but if I was wrong about the frame then I potentially could be wrong about the motor, but im about 80-90% sure it's a ZX engine. The people I purchased it from said that they pulled the engine out of an 81 ZX. As far as extra wires coming off my distributor, I only ever saw the two that go to the coil. Could be some more hiding so I'll check around today.

Thanks so much for the responses and input To attempt to clarify things I did some digging and found out I have a 1981 280 ZX engine inside of a 1978 260Z body and I have the Clymer manual for 240-260 and 280Z. Yea, it's not the best but I got it when I bought the car and I bought the car when I was 18 haha. I had the dream of restoring it and passing it along to my kids one day but like most peoples dreams, life got in the way, so I've never really researched her or how to properly fix her . The "Next to battery" thing was just based off a picture while I hastily skimmed through in frustration. I've got a little bit of time now this week so I dig deeper into it and maybe actually fix it. I'll see about printing out the FSM from the downloads section and see what all I can do. My terminology of cars is about 10% so I know about a pickup coil but not really where it's at. Is that a part located inside distributor / under the distributor cap in that assembly thingy? I'm a motorcycle mechanic more than a car mechanic haha but I try. If my pickups are bad I'll move on to testing the TIU but I'd rather avoid the super technical stuff until I have no more options.

I meant to say that with a timing light attached to the coil wire to the dist. cap I was not getting a signal from the coil. I haven't changed any parts yet, still got some troubleshooting to go through. I'll double check from a loose wire from the loom. Might not be causing this exact problem but if it should be plugged in and its not... well it should get plugged in lol. I bought this car a while back and regretfully I have neglected it Haven't abused it, just haven't given it the TLC it needed and she's responding to it. I got high hopes for it though, not to worry.

Update: Found out my car is actually a 260Z body with a 1981 280Z engine. Managed to find the FSM online here: http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/1981/ Going to check my fusible links and try and trace out the circuits later today, weather permitting. ... I noticed comparing a few ignition coil pictures online with mine; I do not think my "condenser" (Capacitor) is connected. It the small do-hickey right above the coil in the first picture. Am I correct? That should be connected somewhere right? haha

Found the transistor ign module. The book says specialized equipment is required to test it. Are there ways of testing it without the specialized equipment? Am I even on the right track? Checked the fuses but nothing controls anything ignition related. All fuses are good.

Earlier today my 280Z started right up and idled just fine as it has done for the past 9 years. It was idling for about 5-10 minutes then it just dies. No stutter, no chugging, no nothing, just dies as if the spark randomly shut off. So I test my spark plugs, no spark. Inspect the distributor cap, looks good. Check the coil, no voltage signal from the coil to the cap. And that's my issue me thinks. So I pull the coil to test it. Primary circuit has 0.8 ohms resistance and the secondary has 22k ohms resistance. The values are a little out of range from what the book i have tells me, but they should still be close enough to send some sort of signal. I have 12vat the positive terminal of the coil and 12v at the negative terminal. I have no friggin clue why it died and suddenly lost all spark. I did not jiggle any wires before it died, nor did I unplug anything, it just keeled over. I can not find a Transistor Ignition Unit inside my engine bay, it was not in the location the manual said it would be. (Next to the battery) I am trying to sell my car soon as a driveable project car because I don't have the time or money to throw at restoring it and this random death of spark really dampens my day. So any help would be appreciated.

Well I managed to get my old fuel problem fixed, but more and more problems pop up. This one could be easy or complex... My Z runs, or ran... just fine for about 6 weeks after we got it out of the shop (I know... But I didn't have the tools to do the job...) Then I go to have my stereo beefed up.. Park the car, turn it off, walk inside, back outside, and try to start my car. Not 5 minutes after it ran perfectly it doesn't start.... It'll try and try and try until gas fumes are everywhere. Battery is at full charge, it's getting fuel, even spraying starter fluid into the intake did nothing. My guess is that it's flooded. My 2nd guess is the distributer that the mechanics said was "loose". And my 3rd guess is that God hates me for having a cooler car than him... but we can pretty much rule that out. Later today I'm getting it towed back home... If anyone can confirm my suspisions or enlighten me on my errors I'd be grateful. :knockedou

Well here's the odd thing. With a full tank of gas, the problems seem to go away and it runs fine. (We just changed all the spark plugs, fusible links, and re-wired a bunch of funkyness around the engine, and that didn't seem to help.) But once it goes about at a half tank it'll start actin up again. Now, there have been a time or two when my exhaust smelled like a gas station had just blown up behind me, but it normally smells fine. I will check up on the vacuum leak though. Sometimes when my Z idles it'll be just fine at 1K RPM then drop down to around 800, (From what I've heard is the norm) and it'll shake really bad. Then on even rarer times it'll shake worse, sputter, turn over one last time then finally shut off. It'll restart right away, but the sooner I get this solved, the sooner it doesn't have to do that. If my dad doesn't have the proper tools to check a vacuum leak we might just have to the dreaded thing and take it in. T_T But only for a diagnosis, I'm pretty sure if they tell us, "Hey, this, this and this are what's wrong..." It'll be no problem to fix ourselves. Paying mechanics is just too costly and not fun at all.

The temperature sensor connector on my Z is a bit worn, so we were hesitant to say the least about messing with it in the cold, and as for the FSM resistance check... Well, at the moment I don't have the $80 to spend on the FSM. You wouldn't happen to be able to give me the values of what they should be could you?

I think it is a loose connection. This car appears to have a lot of them. Disconnected and reconnected all fuel relays and the ignition relay and the Z decided to idle well. I didn't have a chance to drive it because the interior and tail lights went out. If anyone knows if those are on the same connection and where that is, (Or where they are separately if they are indeed separate.) it'd be nice to know and not have to dig through the wiring diagram with no guarantee of finding it. :classic:

Fuel pump relays both bench test "good". Fuel pump bench tests good. However, once installed, pump runs about 0.5 to 1 second after ign switch is moved to 'run' position then shuts off. It took several 'hits' to prime the new fuel filter and the FI rails. I'm thinkin'... How might the airflow meter impact voltage going to fuel pump via the relays? Could the AFM possibly be the culprit in shutting off the fuel pump? AFM cover has been off before or so says the silicone sealant 'round the perimeter of the sealing surface. Not nasty in there, really but there could be some corrosion hiding 'round electrical contacts... This is Charlie O's daddyO secretly postin' on the 'puter who don' know nuttin bout the workin's of an AFM... Yet! With questions of those who BTDT...